Iran to receive fifth installment of frozen assets soon

Director-General of the political and international affairs at the Iranian Foreign Ministry Hamid Baeidinejad announced that Tehran is due to receive the fifth installment of its frozen assets abroad - which has been released as a result of the Geneva nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers - in the coming days. “As of today, four out of the eight installments of our country’s frozen assets have been released, and (Iran’s) unlocked assets will add up to $2.65bln after the fifth tranche is released next week,” Baeidinejad, who heads Iran’s expert-level team at the negotiations with the six world powers, said on Friday. He further stated that the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) can use the unfrozen assets to purchase foreign currencies, gold and other commodities that do not violate the sanctions against Tehran, stressing that efforts are underway in this regard. Baeidinejad said Iran’s accounts have been fully activated in designated Japanese and Swiss banks, and basic commodities as well as medicine and agricultural products are being ordered using the assets frozen in Western banks. The top Iranian official also added that the necessary permits for the overhaul of the engines of Iran’s commercial airliners have been prepared, and the engines will soon be dispatched to overhaul centers in Europe. Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) clinched a long-sought deal in November in the Swiss city of Geneva. The two sides have agreed to stage-by-stage implementation of the interim agreement reciprocating one another since January 20. The accord requires the West to ease some of the existing sanctions in exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building measure not to develop the national nuclear program for a six-month period. The frozen Iranian assets will be released in eight states, as agreed, and Tehran will dilute its 20% enriched uranium within the next 12 months.